The problem here is that there's still a good chance Nets Pick conveys between 6-10 at worst, and in this upcoming, deep and LOADED draft (flush with big men), selecting in that range could still get you a star-caliber player.

But with LAL Pick, your only chance is if it conveys 2-5, and now you add NYK to the "tanking competition" and they could end up being worse than LAL. If this LAL pick does not convey, it will really suck for us, and the only 1st round pick we will have this upcoming season will likely be our own high-20 pick. Need this pick to convey for a possible Anthony Davis or Porzingis trade this summer too.

I predict Lakers will be 3rd worst in the league this upcoming season but now the Knicks could legitimately challenge them too. Teams like the Pacers, Hawks, are wild cards too in that department.

Man I wish Ainge fought for better protections from the LAL Pick (like convey if 2-7, not just 2-5...)

I think its entirely possible that Ainge Preferred 2-5, rather than 2-7. There is widely believed to be 5 upper echelon prospects right now (Doncic, Porter, Bagley, Ayton, Bamba). After that there is a drop off, with this draft not being considered as deep as the last one. Ainge may very well be thinking that if he cant get a shot at one of those top 5 he'd rather have a second shot at a top five pick a year later.

I'm not sure how this trade effects the Lakers. Even before the Melo trade, OKC was going to be heavily favored to beat up LA. If anything this might hurt the LA pick we have because the Knicks are that much worse.

What do the Lakers have to do with this? They were in that group regardless of the Melo trade.

After today's trade, there are legitimately 7 teams that could really challenge the Nets for being the worst team in the league. Atlanta, Indiana, New York, Chicago, LAL, Sacramento, and Phoenix are all legit challengers to that "crown," and that's not even counting teams like the Magic that could very well be in competition for the last spot, too.

Somehow Danny saw the writing on the wall with this year's Nets pick. Let's just hope that the increased competition in the West will keep LA in that bottom five group.

Ah, gotcha. I forgot that I added that last part.

But, yeah, I was pretty much saying what you were saying, i.e. that hopefully the better West keeps them in that 2-5 range, even with more East teams now challenging for the bottom tier of teams.

I see the 2 worst teams as clearly the Bulls and the Nets. All the others the OP listed either have way better coaching and cultures, or simply better rosters. But the Nets and Bulls will be terrible.

I definitely think there are tiers in those eight or nine teams, but I still think they're all pretty close. I think the Bulls, Nets, Hawks, and Pacers are the worst without context, but when you add in the fact that Sacramento and Phoenix are in the West, they get put into that group, too.

I think LA, NY (mainly Porzingis), and Orlando are the best three of that group, but it wouldn't surprise me at all to seen any of those three as a bottom three team at the end of the season.

The problem here is that there's still a good chance Nets Pick conveys between 6-10 at worst, and in this upcoming, deep and LOADED draft (flush with big men), selecting in that range could still get you a star-caliber player.

But with LAL Pick, your only chance is if it conveys 2-5, and now you add NYK to the "tanking competition" and they could end up being worse than LAL. If this LAL pick does not convey, it will really suck for us, and the only 1st round pick we will have this upcoming season will likely be our own high-20 pick. Need this pick to convey for a possible Anthony Davis or Porzingis trade this summer too.

I predict Lakers will be 3rd worst in the league this upcoming season but now the Knicks could legitimately challenge them too. Teams like the Pacers, Hawks, are wild cards too in that department.

Man I wish Ainge fought for better protections from the LAL Pick (like convey if 2-7, not just 2-5...)

No if it doesn't covey it becomes a kings pick which is even better

Anyone know how the 2019 draft looks in terms of what could be available? (Yeah I know it's SUPER early)

But please don't tell me the 2019 one will have only star guards (which we have) and not big men (which we need and is available in 2018 draft)

The problem here is that there's still a good chance Nets Pick conveys between 6-10 at worst, and in this upcoming, deep and LOADED draft (flush with big men), selecting in that range could still get you a star-caliber player.

But with LAL Pick, your only chance is if it conveys 2-5, and now you add NYK to the "tanking competition" and they could end up being worse than LAL. If this LAL pick does not convey, it will really suck for us, and the only 1st round pick we will have this upcoming season will likely be our own high-20 pick. Need this pick to convey for a possible Anthony Davis or Porzingis trade this summer too.

I predict Lakers will be 3rd worst in the league this upcoming season but now the Knicks could legitimately challenge them too. Teams like the Pacers, Hawks, are wild cards too in that department.

Man I wish Ainge fought for better protections from the LAL Pick (like convey if 2-7, not just 2-5...)

No if it doesn't covey it becomes a kings pick which is even better

Anyone know how the 2019 draft looks in terms of what could be available? (Yeah I know it's SUPER early)

But please don't tell me the 2019 one will have only star guards (which we have) and not big men (which we need and is available in 2018 draft)

There's not a lot of high end talent at the big man spots at this stage of development.

Logged

Give us this pick, Almighty RedAnd forgive us our tankingAs we forgive those who tanked against usAnd lead us not into the lotteryBut deliver us from losing

The problem here is that there's still a good chance Nets Pick conveys between 6-10 at worst, and in this upcoming, deep and LOADED draft (flush with big men), selecting in that range could still get you a star-caliber player.

But with LAL Pick, your only chance is if it conveys 2-5, and now you add NYK to the "tanking competition" and they could end up being worse than LAL. If this LAL pick does not convey, it will really suck for us, and the only 1st round pick we will have this upcoming season will likely be our own high-20 pick. Need this pick to convey for a possible Anthony Davis or Porzingis trade this summer too.

I predict Lakers will be 3rd worst in the league this upcoming season but now the Knicks could legitimately challenge them too. Teams like the Pacers, Hawks, are wild cards too in that department.

Man I wish Ainge fought for better protections from the LAL Pick (like convey if 2-7, not just 2-5...)

I think its entirely possible that Ainge Preferred 2-5, rather than 2-7. There is widely believed to be 5 upper echelon prospects right now (Doncic, Porter, Bagley, Ayton, Bamba). After that there is a drop off, with this draft not being considered as deep as the last one. Ainge may very well be thinking that if he cant get a shot at one of those top 5 he'd rather have a second shot at a top five pick a year later.

I believe the trade occurred before Bagley's official reclassification into the 2018 draft although it was widely believed he would reclassify. So now the 2019 draft has most probably lost its best player and is even weaker. The 2018 draft also has Robert Williams and Miles Bridges who were potential top 10 picks in the 2017 draft but decided to go back for their sophomore season. I'm especially high on Williams who was an unheralded freshman but became a top 10 prospect while playing on a team with very poor guard play. I think there is a good chance we regret not having less protection.

Before the Irving trade I had the Nets as the 6th worst team with the Knicks being better. But I did put a caveat that an Anthony trade would adjust the Knicks. I don't think the Anthony trade gives the Knicks enough to keep them better than the Nets, I would move Brooklyn to the 7th worst record.

After today's trade, there are legitimately 7 teams that could really challenge the Nets for being the worst team in the league. Atlanta, Indiana, New York, Chicago, LAL, Sacramento, and Phoenix are all legit challengers to that "crown," and that's not even counting teams like the Magic that could very well be in competition for the last spot, too.

Somehow Danny saw the writing on the wall with this year's Nets pick. Let's just hope that the increased competition in the West will keep LA in that bottom five group.

The Lakers look to me to be by far the best team out of all the teams listed.

You very well could be correct about LA, UNTIL Brook goes down with yet another injury!!

Makes no difference to me. The Nets being better than worst does nothing for the Celtics.

I agree, the primary question should be about how well we think LAL, SAC and PHI will be doing.

But as far as anything changing impressions, the Cavs trade is done, and it's hard to imagine that Danny was forecasting things like the Melo deal when he made the Irving deal. He may have had a general (and informed) view of how BKN and LAL would be doing this year, but if the Knicks end up being terrible and pushing the Nets out of the top 3, I wouldn't say that makes the trade any different in retrospect.